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Buck thinks he hasn’t stopped smiling all day. It’s a downright miracle that Christopher is back in LA this Christmas and as much as Buck is thrilled to have him back, he’s even more relieved for Eddie. Those five months were the roughest Buck has ever seen, and by the end he was constantly worried about the lengths to which Eddie might go to get away from the pain. The transition back to being a household of three hasn’t been entirely smooth. Chris is undeniably a teenager now and his impulse to test boundaries is stronger than ever, and neither Buck nor Eddie want to say no to him lest he run away again. They’re working it out, but the holiday has been a nice break from those struggles.
Eddie insisted on waiting to put Christopher’s presents out after he went to bed last night as if the kid isn’t a thousand percent sure they were purchased rather than delivered by sleigh. But it had been fun for Buck, the two of them sneaking through the house whispering as they tried to make everything perfect. It helped that Chris wanted to sleep in, because the adults didn’t make it to bed until the early hours of the morning. Buck has heard the stories from Maddie and Chim, Hen and Karen, and even Eddie years ago about eager kids waking up before dawn and exhausted parents trying to keep them in bed as long as possible. He supposes it’s more convenient to be on teenager hours, but a part of him is also nostalgic for the early years of Christopher’s life that he never got to see.
The day was perfect, really. He drank coffee and kissed Eddie until Chris woke up. They sat around the tree, although it’s barely visible under the load of lights, ornaments, and perfectly strung popcorn garlands covering it. Chris yelled in excitement about his new video game, and Buck watched a year of stress fall off Eddie’s face in real time. Buck made a lazy breakfast spread around noon, pancake flipping assisted by Chris and sneaky bacon sampling assisted by Eddie. They spent the day together, cozy in new pajamas and surrounded by light and joy.
The 118 is having their annual giant dinner in a few days because of complications with shift schedules, and it’s honestly a blessing to have this specific Christmas to cocoon in the house as just the three of them. Dinner is a lot less fancy than it might have been, but Buck roasts a chicken nonetheless and when Eddie gets mashed potatoes stuck to his nose, they all laugh until they cry.
It’s late now. Chris is in bed after spending the evening absorbed by his new game. Buck and Eddie have been alternating attempts at cleaning the kitchen with cuddling on the couch. Texts keep coming in from the rest of the team and their respective families, and they inevitably end up back together so that Buck can show Eddie what Jee-Yun looks like sitting in a pile of discarded wrapping paper like it’s fallen leaves, and Eddie can show Buck how his sister’s family put reindeer antlers on their dog.
Eddie returns to the couch from saying goodnight to Chris, who insists he doesn’t need to be tucked in but not so secretly grins when Eddie kisses him on the forehead. As long as his friends can’t see it, he’s happy to be home with his dad. He finds Buck watching the tree, mesmerized by the lights and the Christmas music still playing softly in the background. Eddie melts against him, happy to exist in this moment of magic and light as long as possible.
“It was a good day,” Eddie says with relief. “I was so worried he wouldn’t like it.”
“He loved it, because he’s home. Everyone is where they belong,” Buck answers, putting his arm around Eddie.
He adds, quieter, “this was the best Christmas I’ve ever had.”
Buck is still looking at the lights, but Eddie turns to look at him at this.
“Really?”
“I’ve never been this happy. These past few years… the 118 was the first real family I had, and I love our Christmases. But everyone else there had an actual family to go home with afterward. I was the only one who needed it like that. It was my only connection to anyone, and I was always aware of that no matter how fun it was. This year, though, I have you…”
“You’ve always had me, Buck. We just took our time to figure out how much. But I’m sorry that you’ve been lonely for so many years.”
“It’s better now,” Buck says, waving his hand dismissively. Eddie grabs his hand out of the air and uses it to pull Buck closer to him.
“I want to make it better,” he says, kissing Buck softly, “until you never have to doubt how much I love you.”
They make out lazily, illuminated only by the tree beside them. Buck pulls back at one point to gaze at Eddie adoringly, brushing his thumbs over Eddie’s cheekbones which glow in the reflected light. A possessive flame spreads across Eddie’s face and in a second he’s pushing Buck back against the couch and swinging one leg over Buck’s to straddle his lap. Buck just laughs as Eddie begins to kiss his neck in earnest.
In some ways, the future they’ve arrived in has been predictable for the past six years. And in others, the past two months have given Buck whiplash. Eddie kissed him then promptly declared himself gay, the order of which will delight Buck for the rest of his life. He does understand that Eddie had been building to the realization for a while and just hadn’t come out yet, but Buck will take any excuse to call himself the one who corrupted him. They’d felt silly trying to date in a traditional manner, because they’ve been working together and co-parenting a kid this whole time. So why not just move in together and finally call themselves the family they already were?
Buck is so proud of all the work Eddie has done to figure out who he is beneath the mountain of repression and responsibility he’s had to live under his whole life. The change is visible in the way he smiles so easily now, the way he carries himself without tension, and the occasional bruise in the exact shape of Buck’s teeth that the team will tease him for in the locker room. Eddie asks for what he wants now, and it’s so unbearably hot. He’s worked so hard to learn what he likes and how to let himself experience joy without guilt. Luckily for Buck, what Eddie likes happens to currently be having nonstop sex with Buck. Maybe they’ll slow down and find an equilibrium eventually, but right now they have six years of foreplay to make good on.
Eddie has given up on kissing Buck, too far gone already with his head on Buck's shoulder. He’s panting, desperate as he grinds down against him. It’s the hottest fucking thing Buck has ever heard, Eddie’s breathy moans and the way he says “Buck” so reverently, not a request but an adulation.
“Mm, princess,” Buck says, when he’s reaching the end of his restraint, “I think there’s one more present for you, baby.”
Eddie sits up enough to meet his eyes and his face is taken straight from the dreams Buck’s had for years longer than he’ll admit, face flushed, lips swollen, big, brown eyes begging as they catch the twinkling lights.
“You might need some help unwrapping it,” Buck continues as he takes one of Eddie’s hands and guides it to his crotch. “It’s pretty big.”
Buck is very proud to have moved on from his 1.0 days of debauchery and, if he’s honest, mistreating a lot of women. But he’s glad now to have the material, seeing how Eddie keeps delighting in Buck turning on the oversized swagger. He knows some part of both of them wishes they could have skipped to the good part years earlier, but there’s also something in Buck that’s afraid he would have fumbled this without all the lead time. The rush he gets from this part of the 1.0 act specifically with someone who deeply knows and trusts him and isn’t just using him for sex? Nothing Buck 1.0 ever got up to could compare.
His ability to hold any of those thoughts is rapidly leaving, what with Eddie continuing to rub him and whimper like he’s being deprived.
“Please,” Eddie’s saying, punctuating every word with a kiss and a wicked roll of his hips. “Please, Buck, please let me have my present.”
“You want my dick, baby?”
“I need it,” Eddie cries, collapsing down on him.
Eddie doesn’t seem to notice as Buck lifts his arms to wrap them around his neck and grabs Eddie by the ass. He gasps as Buck stands, lifting him in one motion and walking them both to the bedroom. The last time he did this, he’d dropped Eddie roughly to the bed on purpose. Tonight, he lays him down carefully, stacking pillows under his head. Buck climbs over him, kneeling and strips Eddie’s clothes off efficiently. He takes a bit longer with his own, putting on a show he knows is appreciated from the gasps as he finally pulls his shirt over his head. The pants are a little less smooth, but he thinks Eddie genuinely might pass out if he has to wait another second.
He straddles Eddie, bringing his dick to where he’s gone cross-eyed and drooling.
“Something you wanted, princess?”
Eddie nods, whining just a little too loud for a small house with a kid in it.
“Gonna have to keep you quiet, baby. Maybe we should find another use for that pretty mouth?”
That’s all it takes before Eddie reaches out for Buck’s hips and pulls him close enough to reach. Buck has to grab the headboard to balance, then quickly relocates one of his hands to his own mouth because Eddie really has channeled three decades of catholic guilt into his newest hobby of gay sex. Eddie Diaz, Buck thinks, was born to suck cock. How he lived so long without discovering his true calling, no one knows.
His satisfied little hums are all the encouragement Buck needs to surrender, letting Eddie set the frantic pace using his grip on Buck’s waist. Buck is fucking Eddie’s face, reveling in the sight of Eddie gazing up at him innocently as if his hot, perfect mouth isn’t expertly dismantling Buck’s composure.
He makes a series of strangled murmurs as he gets close and Eddie takes the cue to grip Buck even tighter, to pull him in deeper, until Buck is coming silently save for the ragged inhale as he remembers how to breathe. Eddie’s hands are light and grounding on his thighs as Buck sits back on his heels and drapes himself across Eddie’s chest. Both of them are breathing hard, communicating in everything but words until Eddie regains his voice.
“Buck,” he whispers directly in his ear, sounding wrecked.
“I know, baby. I’ve got you,” Buck answers as he finds the motivation to sit up and maneuver Eddie onto his side.
Buck spoons up behind him, not a molecule between their bodies. With one arm cradling Eddie’s head and the other hand stroking his dick, he holds Eddie tight to whisper in his ear.
“You’ve been so good for me, baby. You deserve a reward. Next 48 we have off, I’m going to keep you in bed all day.”
Eddie is shivering, squirming as he tries to push back even more against Buck and thrust into his hand.
“Gonna fuck you so well, princess,” Buck continues, “fill you up and make you come until you can’t walk. My baby, all mine.”
“All yours, god, only yours,” Eddie wails. “Please. Please!”
Eddie has to smash his face into the pillow to muffle his cry as he comes, Buck kissing his shoulder gently as he wrings the orgasm from him. Thank god for the white noise machine.
Buck continues kissing whatever bits of skin he can reach without sacrificing his hold on Eddie, who has collapsed in exhaustion.
“Thank you for my present, Buck,” he says eventually, his voice raspy.
“You’re the gift, Eddie. You always have been.”
Buck can’t tell if Eddie is crying or laughing or crying laughing until he speaks.
“Merry Christmas, Buck.”
Buck gets up in time, putting his pajamas back on quickly before flipping Eddie over onto his back and kissing him deeply.
“Merry Christmas, babe.”
“Oh, and Buck? The next 48 we have off, I’m totally riding you. Just in case you want to put ‘Eddie takes it so well’ on your calendar.”
It’s all Buck can do to stare in delight as Eddie grins innocently up at him, as if he isn’t still covered in sweat and jizz. This man is going to kill him.
As Buck holds him close in the shower later to wash his hair, he makes note to put extra honey in Eddie’s tea tonight. He’s going to need it.